Classica Sinica Medica

薄厥

bó jué

Sudden inversion

Also rendered: bo jue (Pinyin, untranslated) · pressing inversion (literal alternative)

Pathology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin
bó jué
Simplified
薄厥
Literal
Inversion from a sudden pressing; 薄 is read as 迫, to press.

In brief

The collapse that follows a paroxysm of anger: the qi of the form is cut off, the blood collects in the upper body, and consciousness is lost. Later texts connect it with what is now called stroke.

Senses in the classical corpus

1
Collapse from rage 薄厥
Sudden loss of consciousness with the blood driven upward.
大怒則形氣絕，而血菀於上，使人薄厥。 — Suwen 3

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

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1 passages
素問·生氣通天論 Suwen 3 · 生氣通天論 Read in context →
陽氣者，大怒則形氣絶，而血菀於上，使人薄厥。有傷於筋，縱，其若不容。 阳气者，大怒则形气绝，而血菀于上，使人薄厥。有伤于筋，纵，其若不容。
Yáng qì zhě, dà nù zé xíng qì jué, ér xuè yùn yú shàng, shǐ rén bó jué. yǒu shāng yú jīn, zòng, qí ruò bù róng.
In great anger the form and the qi part company, and the blood collects above, so that the person has sudden inversion. Where the sinews are hurt they slacken and go loose, and the limbs seem no longer to answer.
「使人薄厥」——薄讀 bó，迫也；形氣既絶，血菀於上，氣血並迫於上而為薄厥；**「薄厥」本篇1見**

Compounds built on this term

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

This siteSudden inversion

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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